Training Wednesday 1/3/17

I know it sounds ridiculous but is there any chance that they are keeping Hooker out of sight so that spies don't see our setups?

I think he has an injury they don’t want opposition knowing about hence we have heard zilch about it.

Possibly shoulder or other that defenders could target.
If it was just a hammy he’d have been back by now surely but I could be wrong.

BEGLEY went past Francis after about 10 minutes on Sunday. Not to say that's how it'll stay, but Francis is nowhere near the seniors and to me, that's disappointing

He would have played seniors last week if he didn’t get sick, just like Begley.

Imagine if Francis played on Sunday and he kicked 4…

Just the thought of it makes me go wild.

I know it sounds ridiculous but is there any chance that they are keeping Hooker out of sight so that spies don't see our setups?

It does sound a little ridiculous, but if 5 years ago you told me that the club would be embroiled in a drug saga that went on and on and on, well, I would have said give up the crack pipe. So you just never know.

I know it sounds ridiculous but is there any chance that they are keeping Hooker out of sight so that spies don’t see our setups?

BEGLEY went past Francis after about 10 minutes on Sunday. Not to say that's how it'll stay, but Francis is nowhere near the seniors and to me, that's disappointing

He would have played seniors last week if he didn’t get sick, just like Begley.

I prefer Francis as a defender. I know he can play both ends, but I'd really like to see him transition into the Goddard type, playing off the back line - just with awesome intercept marking. Going forward when neended and also being a strong target. Only time will tell I guess

His knock as a defender is he is too loose on his opponent at this stage…
I think with his x-factor and power, he would be massive asset in attack and a difficult match up…

I prefer Francis as a defender. I know he can play both ends, but I’d really like to see him transition into the Goddard type, playing off the back line - just with awesome intercept marking. Going forward when neended and also being a strong target. Only time will tell I guess

Thanks Jackie. Your summary of the clearance problem was spot on. The number of times Loonie tapped the ball towards our goal where two GCS players and no EFC players were waiting :( ..... Makes me wonder if they're working on that stuff in the big shed behind closed doors?

I certainly hope so…I like numerous others would like to see some improvement!

Like most of you Ive only seen Begley play once but on that performance he is better than Laverde. I think we need to forget about Francis until he strings many games together in the VFL. Great potential but done SFA

Thanks Jackie. Your summary of the clearance problem was spot on. The number of times Loonie tapped the ball towards our goal where two GCS players and no EFC players were waiting :( ..... Makes me wonder if they're working on that stuff in the big shed behind closed doors?

All those years on drafting half back flanker types and skinny athletes trying to turn them into mids is biting us on the bum imo. our next few drafts should be focused on pure mids to add to the likes of Parish,Merret,etc.

Thanks Jackie. Your summary of the clearance problem was spot on. The number of times Loonie tapped the ball towards our goal where two GCS players and no EFC players were waiting :frowning: … Makes me wonder if they’re working on that stuff in the big shed behind closed doors?

To be fair, it’s confusing when they also have to remember the details of banned (Hartley) and top-up (Hurley) players. There’s only so much space in those tiny brains.

"...Today I decided to concentrate on Begley who is potentially in contention for a forward spot and I think he furthered his claims in leading drills one on one with a defender outplaying Morgan to such an extent that Harvey called "Bags go on Fridge." which resulted in a two all duel..."

Yeh, but Morgan is just another kid.

I can only report what I see.

Morgan is in his second year, Begley his first, and although he is not as strong as Begley I would have thought he would have an edge in pace on the lead.

I am actually with you on this Jackie. In the suns game one of the commentators discounted the Begley 4 goal performance basically saying it wasn’t much good, because he was playing on a kid.

Why are people so upset about the fact tony shaw mentioned he was playing on a kid. It’s a fact. Still a quality performance he was just pointing out that the competition at senior afl level might be a bit higher quality so begley will need to test himself again againt them.

I thought people found it funny because he was being held to a different standard despite he himself being a kid in his first game.

Yes, then the Suns reported on their web site that 2 metre Peter Wright had lowered his colors to one of the best defenders in the AFL, Michael Hurley. But maybe that was because the commentators could not get their mind around the fact that Hurley and Hartley are spelled differently and they are the names of 2 different players ?

Hopefully they’re working on multiple clearance sets inside the shed before/after Jackie sees them.

Training in hot conditions at Tullamarine.

A taxing session in the heat with the players working steadily through their drills.

Hooker and Walla were inside today. Hurley did mainly running on the small oval and looked okay as did Heppell. Myers joined them wearing a finger splint.

The good news is that Bellchambers joined in some of the main training today and Francis completed the full training load.

The main emphasis was moving the ball quickly down the corridor trying to get off their kicks within three seconds of receiving the ball.

I was surprised to see little work being done on clearances as this was clearly our Achilles heel against Gold Coast. In particular I refer to the disconnect between the ruck and the receivers where Gold Coast midfielders consistently stood in front of their Essendon opponents and negated our good ruck work.
Our centre trios need to work together with one to receive, one to block for him and a sweeper if we lose the tap.

Today I decided to concentrate on Begley who is potentially in contention for a forward spot and I think he furthered his claims in leading drills one on one with a defender outplaying Morgan to such an extent that Harvey called “Bags go on Fridge.” which resulted in a two all duel.

At the other end of the ground Francis, to my mind our potential full forward, was well out of sorts in a similar leading drill. Joey called to him “You’ve got to be stronger in leading drills.” Advice from a member of the leadership group which is a little hollow after Joe’s one possession game. I noticed that some of the players, Stewart in particular, were complaining with some justification on the quality of the kicks into the forward line but it was not a good look and didn’t please Harvs.

Is it possible that Begley is moving ahead of Francis for a forward spot?

I should conclude by mentioning that Ambrose did very well with his spoiling in the leading drills and this is one aspect of his game that is pleasing. He just needs to do more to follow up after the spoil.

Not an outstanding session today but part of the grind that is so necessary as we build up to the first game against Hawthorn.

Hmmm that’s disappointing considering our midfield got smashed in both games the club should be working on that. I’m going to be a little annoyed if I don’t see any type of improvement from the midfield against Geelong.

"...Today I decided to concentrate on Begley who is potentially in contention for a forward spot and I think he furthered his claims in leading drills one on one with a defender outplaying Morgan to such an extent that Harvey called "Bags go on Fridge." which resulted in a two all duel..."

Yeh, but Morgan is just another kid.

I can only report what I see.

Morgan is in his second year, Begley his first, and although he is not as strong as Begley I would have thought he would have an edge in pace on the lead.

I am actually with you on this Jackie. In the suns game one of the commentators discounted the Begley 4 goal performance basically saying it wasn’t much good, because he was playing on a kid.

Why are people so upset about the fact tony shaw mentioned he was playing on a kid. It’s a fact. Still a quality performance he was just pointing out that the competition at senior afl level might be a bit higher quality so begley will need to test himself again againt them.

I thought people found it funny because he was being held to a different standard despite he himself being a kid in his first game.

You mention that Begley might be ahead of Francis for a forward spot. But surely Laverde must be ahead of them at this stage? Or do people see spots for 2 of those 'leadup medium 3rd marking tall' types in the team?

I sort of figured there’s probably only 1 to partner two KPF (Daniher, Hooker) and our 3 small forwards (Fanta, Green, Tippa) considering Fantasia is quite dangerous as a target to kick to along with some of our midfielders who can rest forward and play similar roles (Watson, Langford). Possibility of Begley getting a spot over Tippa maybe? If the coaches choose to structure it up that way.

I was really just looking at comparing Francis and Begley head to head. Certainly LaVerde has claims as you point out.

"...Today I decided to concentrate on Begley who is potentially in contention for a forward spot and I think he furthered his claims in leading drills one on one with a defender outplaying Morgan to such an extent that Harvey called "Bags go on Fridge." which resulted in a two all duel..."

Yeh, but Morgan is just another kid.

I can only report what I see.

Morgan is in his second year, Begley his first, and although he is not as strong as Begley I would have thought he would have an edge in pace on the lead.

I am actually with you on this Jackie. In the suns game one of the commentators discounted the Begley 4 goal performance basically saying it wasn’t much good, because he was playing on a kid.

Why are people so upset about the fact tony shaw mentioned he was playing on a kid. It’s a fact. Still a quality performance he was just pointing out that the competition at senior afl level might be a bit higher quality so begley will need to test himself again againt them.

Cheers jackie, always enjoy training reports.

"...Today I decided to concentrate on Begley who is potentially in contention for a forward spot and I think he furthered his claims in leading drills one on one with a defender outplaying Morgan to such an extent that Harvey called "Bags go on Fridge." which resulted in a two all duel..."

Yeh, but Morgan is just another kid.

I can only report what I see.

Morgan is in his second year, Begley his first, and although he is not as strong as Begley I would have thought he would have an edge in pace on the lead.

I am actually with you on this Jackie. In the suns game one of the commentators discounted the Begley 4 goal performance basically saying it wasn’t much good, because he was playing on a kid.